


Streaks of Red

by polkadotPotter



Category: The Flash (TV 2014), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Author!Keith, Autistic Keith (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), F/F, F/M, Gay Keith (Voltron), Iverson is Harrison Wells, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron) is a Dork, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Keith is The Flash, Keith is a huge fucking nerd omg, Keith swears a lot, Lance (Voltron) is a Dork, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance is Cisco but without the excessive science knowledge, Lance is Smarter than people give him credit for okay, Like at the same time, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pidge and Hunk are lowkey both Caitlin, Rated for Keith Language tbh, Sam Holt is basically Joe West, Shiro is Iris West but he and keith don't date ever lmao, Shiro is a journalist, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), also Shiro knows about Keith being the flash, broganes, but writes on the side, it's kind of like The Flash but also different, keith works as a forensic scientist, klance, like if loosely follows the plot of The Flash season 1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 08:32:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15860001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polkadotPotter/pseuds/polkadotPotter
Summary: Nine months ago, Keith Kogane was struck by lightning at a rather inopportune time during a storm caused by a faulty particle accelerator.Today, he wakes up in a lab surrounded by people he doesn't know, feeling like the world is too slow.Soon, Keith discovers that he's fast- impossibly fast. He can run at speeds he could only ever dreamed of, he can heal broken bones in mere hours, he can read an entire book in minutes. And that's great and all, he supposes, but he wasn't the only person given powers by the particle accelerator: hedoesseem to be the onlygoodperson who ended up with abilities, though. And Keith being Keith is going to make it his new mission to stop those bad guys -metahumans, if you will- and keep Arus City safe from whatever the world throws at it.





	Streaks of Red

The first thing that Keith heard when his consciousness returned to him was some ridiculous, bubble-gum pop song. Keith wasn't sure if he should really be awake, because his head was _killing_ him, but he supposed that he had been pulled from his sleep with the purpose of putting an end to the disgusting music that was currently infecting the air of whatever room he was in. It was loud, and Keith hated loud.

With a soft groan, Keith managed to mumble, "Turn that fucking music off," without even opening his eyes. God, he just wanted to sleep. He didn't think he remembered ever being so tired.

However, his tiredness seemed to be the last thing on anyone's agenda today, because as soon as he spoke, the music was turned off and replaced by excited yelling. "Holy shit, did he just say something?" gasped a voice. Keith just groaned in response, turning over to lay on his side, curling into a ball in a vain attempt to block out the noise. "He's awake! I think!"

"He could be sleep talking?" another voice, this one a lot softer than the first one, suggested.

"He can't be sleep talking," said a third voice, and this one was a girl. "He definitely wanted you to turn off your music, Lance."

"I can't imagine _why_ ," responded the first voice, who was, presumably, Lance. "Carly Rae Jepsen is a freaking goddess."

"Maybe he was dreaming about bad music?" the soft-voiced one offered.

"'M not asleep," Keith grumbled, shifting on his bed again. "But I'm fucking trying to be, so could all you shut up?"

"Oh my f- he _is_ awake!" screeched the girl, and suddenly Keith was being pulled into a sitting position, jolting him out of his half asleep state. 

"Dude, what the _fuck_ ," he hissed, jerking away from the touch. His eyes finally opened, he took a moment to look around the room. It was brightly colored, with a lot of white and silver. Two of the three people in front of him were sporting lab coats, and one was just in streetclothes- a white shirt with blue sleeves and jeans. "Where the hell am I?"

"Forget that, I need you to pee in this cup for Hunk," said the girl. She had short, choppy hair and circular glasses that took up her entire face. She seemed a bit too excited about him for someone he'd just met.

"Pidge," the other one sighed, and Keith assumed that this was Hunk. "He just woke up, hold off on- uh, like, everything." Hunk was larger, with dark skin and a kind look about him- Kieth found himself relaxing a bit when he spoke. Hunk turned to look at him then. "I'm Hunk, and that's Pidge-" he pointed at Pidge, who grinned and wiggled the plastic pee cup at him, "and Lance." The boy in normal clothes sent him a smile, saluting him with two fingers before casually leaning back against a desk like he owned it. "You're at the Garrison Science Lab."

Keith's eyes widened. He knew all about GSL- aside from being an author, being a research scientist here had been a childhood dream. "Holy shit," he breathed, looking around the room again. It was shockingly empty for one of the top research labs in the world, but he was so confused at the moment that he decided to brush it aside momentarily. "What am I doing _here_?"

Hunk looked at Keith, observing him. "What do you remember?" he asked.

Keith had to think about it for a moment, and it kind of hurt to remember, but he managed to get his thoughts together enough to scrape up a story. "I... I was in my lab, at work. There was a storm." Keith frowned. "I got... hit by lightning?" He shook his head at himself. That couldn't have happened- he must be remembering wrong.

However, Hunk nodded at him like he had gotten something correct, and Keith's chest seized up. "Yeah. The night we launched the particle accelerator, there was a big storm." The mood in the lab seemed to dim at the mention of the device, and Keith managed to pick up on that. "You got hit by lightning, and honestly it's a freaking miracle that you survived."

"Well, I survived," Keith announced, crossing his arms. He sat with his legs criss-crossed on top of the mattress, making himself small. The tall one, Lance, seemed to catch on to what he was doing and narrowed his eyes curiously. Keith ignored it. "One question, though. If I was hit by lightning, why the fuck am I not in like, oh, I don't know, a hospital?"

"Hey, don't hate," Lance defended himself. "I, for one, often hear that we have an excellent doctor-to-patient ratio."

"Lance," Hunk sighed, rolling his eyes at the other man. He turned back to Keith, his features softening. "The doctors were swamped, a lot of people got injured in the storm. And there was something with you... they just couldn't keep up with you. The doctors there, they didn't know what was wrong. So Dr. Iverson offered to take you in. They were reluctant at first, but eventually the hospital let us take over."

"Hold the fucking phone- Dr. Iverson?" Keith gaped, eyes wide. "As in, Doctor Mitch _fucking_ Iverson? One of the most renowned scientists in the entire world? Knows who I am?"

"Yeah," Pidge said. "Though he isn't really 'renowned' anymore..." She looked down at her shoes, looking very melancholy for some reason. 

"Why the hell wouldn't he be?" Keith asked, taken aback by the statement. Dr. Iverson was one of the most brilliant minds since Albert Einstein in his opinion. And, quite frankly, the rest of the world seemed to agree with him. 

"A lot happened in the last nine months, Keith," Hunk said. It was obvious that he had been trying to slip those two words- 'nine months' into the conversation as smoothly as he could. Now that they were out, he seemed to be anticipating Keith's reaction to them.

Keith heard the words right away, but he didn't really process them as fast. It took him a moment, before he narrowed his eyes at Hunk. "What do you mean, nine months?"

Hunk looked downright nervous, and he waved his hand at Pidge for her to take over. "Keith, when you were struck by lightning- it sent you into a coma." Keith could feel his heart beating, could _hear_ it, and he hated it. He knew where this explanation was going, but- "You were in that coma for nine months."

The words hit Keith like someone had thrown a bowling ball against his chest. "Holy- nine months?" he croaked. His eyes were dry from how many times they had blown wide since he'd woken up.

Hunk winced. "Yeah."

The air seemed a bit thin, suddenly, so Keith sucked in an extra huge breath. "Jesus fucking- shit on my fucking _dick_ , how could I be in a coma for nine months?!"

"You really like swearing, don't you?" Lance observed, peering at him with interest. Keith didn't like how he felt that Lance was looking at him through a microscope.

Keith scoffed. "And you like your ass on that desk," he shot back, adjusting his crossed arms against his chest. "What the fuck of it?"

"Okay- hey, let's just calm down," Hunk interjected, cutting off Lance just as he seemed to be about to retort. Turning to Keith, Hunk seemed to get softer. "I know you must have questions, Keith-"

"Yeah, no shit," Keith snapped, eyes wide. He knew he was being rude- he couldn't help it. He was so out of sync, so confused. He was in an unfamiliar place and he was scared. Thankfully, Hunk didn't seem to hold his outburst against him, probably guessing it's origins. "What- where's my brother? Shiro? And- and- what about my job? Oh god, do I not have a job? Wait, I was struck by lightning, can I even like, move right?" Keith hopped off the bed quickly, testing his legs and moving his arms to make sure that he could still function. It gave him a small sense of relief, knowing that he wasn't permanently damaged- but fuck it if he still wasn't panicking at least a little.

"Hey, Keith," Hunk said, and he tried to put his hands on Keith's shoulders. It was meant to be reassuring, but Keith jerked away with a frown anyways. Hunk seemed to get the hint, and he didn't try a second time. "Keith, I need you to calm down. Your brother is fine. He knows where you are, he was just here yesterday. He visited you a lot. He's really nice. He really loves and supports you." Keith knew that Hunk was trying to calm him down by talking slow and carefully, talking about Shiro, and it was actually working. He hugged himself tightly and listened. "You still have your job, too. They hired a temporary replacement so the department would still have a forensic scientist, but they kept it for you. They made it clear that as soon as you were better, you'd have your job back." Keith focused on breathing through his nose, watching Hunk talk to him with that hesitant but calming smile. "Everything is okay, and you have control, okay? You have your job, and your brother, and you're awake. Good?"

Keith's breathing was coming easier now, and he let himself relax a bit, unfurling his fists and removing his shoulders from their spots beside his ears. He nodded, small and barely noticeable, toward Hunk. "Good," he mumbled, not looking up. "Uh, sorry."

"It's okay," Hunk assured him. His hand twitched, like he wanted to reach out to Keith, but he stopped himself. "Lance will you go get Iverson?"

"Me?" Lance whined. "And miss all the fun? Nah, I'll just text him." Lance whipped out his phone, expertly typing something with quick fingers before sliding the device back in his pocket. 

Keith cleared his throat. "So, uh. Why- why is no one..."

"Why is no one here?" Pidge finished for him. "Nobody's been here since the night of the particle accelerator- FEMA categorized us as a class four hazardous location."

"Why?" Keith asked, frowning. 

"The accelerator blew up," Pidge said, bluntly. Keith gaped at her.

"Sorry, it-"

"Blew up," Pidge continued. "Exploded, went ka-boom. It was kind of a disaster."

"Seventeen people died, Pidge," Lance said, and it was the first time his voice was anything but flippant or joking- there was a harsh undertone to his words, and Keith decided he didn't like it. "Don't be so callous."

Pidge grimaced, having the decency to look ashamed for upsetting Lance. "Right. Sorry, Lance." Based on Lance's reaction, Keith could only guess that he'd lost someone in the blast. But it still didn't make sense- there shouldn't have _been_ a blast. Keith said as much to Pidge.

"We thought so," Pidge said, her voice tinged with sadness. "But- there was an anomaly. The electron volts became unmeasurable, and the ring that we'd spent months preparing to contain the energy popped. All that energy was thrown into the sky, adding to the storm. It seeded a storm cloud, which-"

"Created a lightning bolt, that hit me," Keith guessed. He looked around at the suddenly solemn faces of his companions. "Was anyone else struck by lightning?" he asked. 

Pidge shook her head. "There were no lightning victims," she told him. "There was an unusual amount of cardiac arrest and heart attack victims, and a spiked number of people were admitted to hospitals for having fainted for inexplicable reasons. That storm, and the particle accelerator, created a lot of havoc. But you are unique in your circumstances."

Keith nodded. "Okay," he said, fisting his hands around the material of the sweatpants he was wearing. With odd timing, he seemed to notice that he was not wearing a shirt. "Um," he said, and he could feel heat crawling up his neck and into his cheeks. "Could I... do any of you have a shirt I can borrow?"

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Hunk said. "Lance has a few lying around, and he seems like he's your size." As Hunk wandered off to find a shirt, Lance took a moment to appreciate Keith, or what he could see of him.

"Yo Hunk, maybe we could hold off on a shirt a little longer?" he suggested, a smirk playing at his lips. The comment was obviously meant to be flirty, but Keith just felt an uncomfortable jolt in his stomach at the joke and crossed his arms over his chest yet again, blocking the view. Lance pouted dramatically, but said nothing further.

"Lance, leave the poor kid alone," said a new voice, and Keith stiffened. He recognized that voice- he would recognize it anywhere. It was the same voice that he would listen to for hours on end, the same voice that had given the opening speech to the Garrison Science Labs, and, much later, announced the particle accelerator. Keith turned to see Dr. Iverson -in the fucking flesh- in the doorway. He was in a wheelchair, and that was new, but he looked very much like himself. Formally dressed, his body an array of sharp edges and dark lines, and a little bit intimidating. "Keith, will you come with me please? I'd like to talk."

Keith hesitated for a moment, a little bit of panic seeping back under his skin. However, it was knocked away when he was hit in the shoulder by a soft fabric. "Here's a shirt," Hunk said, and Keith slipped it on. It was a bit big on him, and too brightly colored for his taste, but he appreciated it nonetheless. Wordlessly, he nodded at Hunk in thanks and padded over to where Iverson was waiting in his wheelchair. 

"Both men of few words," Lance mused from behind him. "I wonder how this'll go."

Iverson guided his wheelchair into the room, and Keith stepped back to give him space. He stayed silent, hoping that Iverson would begin to explain when he saw it fit.

"The hospital was experiencing unexplained power outages every time you went into cardiac arrest," Iverson started, "and that was actually a misdiagnosis. Your heart wasn't stopping. It was beating too fast for their monitors to pick up on. And I'm not exactly the most popular guy these days, but your brother gave me permission to bring you here, where we were able to stabilize you."

Keith breathed a sigh of relief. "Shiro," he said. He knew he should be concerned for what all of that medical stuff meant for him, but for right now he was focused on something familiar, something he knew. That was his brother.

"Yes," Iverson said. "He came to visit you quite often."

"He talks a lot," Pidge said, more as a statement than a complaint.

"Also, he's like, really hot," Lance added, to which Keith raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Keith was suddenly met with an overwhelming urge to get out, to find Shiro and just... he didn't know. Say hi? What could he do, after nine months of being unconscious, that could even express what he felt? "I- can I go?" he asked suddenly. He _knew_ he should stay, but he just couldn't. Out of nowhere, his skin itched with the idea of escape.

"Uh, no?" Pidge said, raising her eyebrows at him. "You literally just woke up from a coma, there are so many tests we need to do. And-"

"I want to see my brother," Keith announced. His voice had that certain lilt to it, the one that made him sound younger than he was. It tended to come up in stressful situations. 

"We can call him here," Iverson assured him, wheeling over to where he stood. "But Keith, I do not recommend leaving right now. We don't know enough to let you go and stay sound of mind- there are too many variables, too many things that could go wrong."

Keith hesitated, but managed to nod without seeming too upset. He hugged himself with his arms, feeling uncomfortable. "Can you call my brother?" he asked. He knew he was being repetitive, but he didn't care.

"Yes," Iverson told him. "Lance, why don't you call Mr. Shirogane and tell him that his brother is awake? I'm sure he'd love to come and say hello." Lance had the decency to forgo the protesting and simply got out his phone, calling Shiro. Keith found it disturbing that Lance had his brother's number, whether as a contact in his phone or just memorized. Lance walked into the hall to talk, and Keith could hear his voice as he started talking, words indistinct. At least he knew Shiro picked up. 

"Now," Pidge said, coming up to Keith with an impatient look on her face. She held up the plastic container she'd presented to him earlier. "Will you finally pee in this cup for me?"

Keith sighed, but nodded. He held out his hand for the cup, and Pidge leaned forward to give it to him- only, she was too far away and ended up over extending herself. She toppled forward, tripping over her own weight. Keith reached out the catch her, but it was... surprisingly easy. He watched in mild horror as the world around him slowed, to the point where, when he looked at Pidge falling, it was like someone had put a filter over it for comical relief. Looking up, Keith saw that everything else was the same speed. Laughably slow- hunk in the middle of biting into a granola bar, but his mouth was moving at a snails pace. Iverson was headed toward something on his wheelchair, but he was moving slow enough to put any grandmother to shame.

In his shock over this new development, Keith completely forgot that Pidge was falling- when the world sped up again, he failed to catch her. She hit the ground with a loud _thud_ and a groan. "Keith!" she huffed, pushing herself up. "Why didn't you catch me?"

Keith opened his mouth, glancing around the room in confusion. Had none of the rest of them noticed what he had? "What the shit. I- did you... did you see that?"

Pidge looked around the room, squinting at nothing. She glanced at Keith skeptically. "Uh... see what, Keith?"

There was no sensible way to explain it, and Keith wasn't really good with words. "Um, that!" he said, gesturing with his arms to the room around them. "It was... slow."

"Keith, buddy, we're gonna need more than that," Hunk told him kindly, and Keith breathed out harshly. He could feel himself getting worked up, he didn't know how to say what he was thinking.

"It was like- God, fuck- it was like I was faster than you. And you were really, really slow." Keith sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Um. Pidge was falling in slow motion. And Hunk was eating slow, and Iverson was moving slow too."

Pidge and Hunk both looked at him like he was insane, and Keith hated it. "We were slow?" Iverson asked, and Keith nodded vigorously. "Were we slow, or were you fast?"

"That!" Keith exclaimed, pointing at Iverson. "I was fast! I felt- I felt really fast."

Iverson nodded. "If your body was moving fast- and, by extension, your brain, then it _would_ seem like the rest of us were going slow."

Keith sighed in relief. Thank fuck, Iveson didn't think he was insane.

"Shiro's on his way," Lance announced, coming back into the room. "Man, I hope he wears another muscle shirt like last time-" he stopped, seeming to notice the new atmosphere of the room. "Uh... did I miss something?"

Iverson looked at Keith for another moment before turning to Lance. "We may need to run more tests than originally planned."

**Author's Note:**

> so this is going to be a lot shorter than the actual chapters, but this is basically just a shitty prologue lmao. i hope you guys liked it,, shiro next chapter!!! :D


End file.
